By LAUREN HALLIGAN
News Editor
The fourth annual Pearlpalooza enticed the masses to downtown Albany’s Pearl Street on Saturday to get their alternative music fix.
In its few short years of existence, Pearlpalooza has become an integral part of the Capital Region’s music culture. The free event is hosted by 102.7 WEQX, known as “the real alternative” station.
The street shut down Saturday morning and two stages were set up for the festival’s talent, who were soon arriving.
Early afternoon performances were given by Titanics and Stellar Young on the local stage, set up at the street festival’s South End.
Cayucas and Gentleman Hall warmed up the main stage crowd before Canadian group Said The Whale took stage. Their first ever Albany show, Said The Whale received a warm welcome from EQX listeners. The band played songs off of their new album “Hawaii,” which came out last week, including their hit single “I Love You.”
Local band Wild Adriatic took a day off from recording their new full-length album to give fans a taste of their new music. This was the band’s third straight year playing Pearlpalooza. Once prompted for an encore, the band came back with their impressively spot-on rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” featuring frontman Travis Gray’s soaring vocals. Eastbound Jesus, next on the local stage, kept the crowd going before the final main stage acts.
The Pearl Street crowd began to get rowdy when Crystal Fighters hit the main stage. Their sequin-clad frontman and the eclectic band led a dance party for everyone on Pearl Street that night.
“I’ve been looking forward to Pearlpalooza for months,” said festival-goer Hannah Mosher, a student at The College of Saint Rose, noting that she became a fan of Crystal Fighters after seeing them live that day.
The EQX team then came on stage to introduce the evening’s main attraction: Portugal. The Man. The band opened with their radio hit “Purple Yellow Red and Blue.”
The Alaska-based group was once signed to Albany-based Equal Vision Records, though since becoming more popular, they are now signed to Atlantic Records. Later on in the set, the band performed the title track off of their 2013 Atlantic release Evil Friends. Another big sing-along was “So American” off the band’s 2011 full-length album In The Mountain In The Cloud.
Avid EQX listener Talia Cass, a Saint Rose senior who’s attended previous festivals said in regard to the lineup, “It could be better,” upset that The Dirty Heads cancelled.
For the first time in the festival’s four years, half of the main stage crowd was gated off for VIP members who either paid $25 to stand in this section or won free entry through a radio contest. Some returning festival-goers were not happy about this. Cass called it a “waste of space.” Others decided to hop the fence, and were then escorted out by event security for not having the proper VIP wristband.
One other factor put a damper on the festival’s main event. Though the night was bound to be hazy for some, an overproducing smoke machine set up on stage made visibility near-impossible for many in the crowd. “There was way too much smoke,” Mosher said. “They sounded really good, but we couldn’t see them.”
As giant balloons (“Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue” ones) crept into the crowd from the side street, Portugal. The Man ended their set by playing the song for a second time.
After a few moments, the band was back on stage for a three-song encore. The highlight of this portion of the set was their cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.”
Show-goer Matt Woods, 21, said he is a big fan of Said The Whale and Crystal Fighters, and was glad to see them both for the first time. A well-awaited concert, it “definitely lived up to the hype” that the radio station had been building all summer, Woods said, noting that he’s already excited to attend again next year.
